For the oral history project as a whole, it means I have a new outlet to get post-9/11 veterans’ insights into the debate. I’ll cover plenty of other national security subjects as well — although my more than 200 interviews with veterans inform everything I do — but my new boss, Colin Clark, supports my oral history work and sees it as a unique way to enrich our coverage of a wide range of defense issues with the first-person perspective of the people who actually have to implement the policies and use the equipment. I conducted my 204th oral history interview yesterday, I’ll do my 205th Friday, and I’m happy to talk to anyone who’s deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan since 9/11 (click here for participation guidelines).

My title and contact information may change; my mission and my passion are the same.